The Perfect Pantry®

Gingerbread waffles recipe

Our grandson loves chocolate chip pancakes for breakfast, but I've never been one to go sweet early in the morning. I'd rather have these gingerbread waffles for dessert, but my husband Ted loved them as an afternoon snack, with butter and maple syrup. In other words, don't let me tell you when to eat waffles. Almost every ingredient in these waffles comes right from the pantry. I swapped white whole wheat flour for half of the all-purpose flour in the original recipe, and upped the amount of powdered ginger because I love it. Though somewhat more dense thanks to the whole grain flour, these waffles still have the cake-like quality of gingerbread and, topped with ginger ice cream or vanilla frozen yogurt, would make a great dessert for kids or grown-ups. If you're having a party, cook a batch of waffles ahead, and refrigerate or freeze them; then, to serve, simply pop them in the toaster. One waffle per person will be perfect at the end of the meal. Our grandson might just manage two for breakfast.

Other People's Pantries #182

From Veee, in Austin, Texas:

My pantry is long and narrow so it isn't easy to take pictures but I hope you can get the idea. I have 5 shelves plus the floor along one wall. And one shelf above a clothes rod on the end.

Recipe for cardamom-brown sugar snickerdoodles cookies

What I love about snickerdoodles: even if you're not a baker, and I am not, you always have all of the ingredients you need to bake these cookies right in your pantry. Cream of tartar might not be in constant rotation, but you know you have it somewhere in the rear of your spice rack, and even if it's almost ancient, like mine, it will give these cookies the bit of puff they need. The cardamom in this recipe lends the cookies a grown-up air, but kids will love them, too. We sprinkled ours with a pinch of extra cardamom after they came out of the oven. If you like your cookies sweeter, top the cookies before baking with demerara or another large-crystal sugar.

Recipe for salmon and quinoa patties with lemon-yogurt sauce

Here at the log house, we usually eat family style, serving ourselves from communal bowls and platters. However, every now and then, I like to fancy it up a bit. I don't mean that the food gets fussy or complicated; rather, I take an extra minute or two with presentation, even when it's just for my husband Ted and me. (How romantic is that?) We love salmon and quinoa patties burger size on a bun, with the lemon-yogurt sauce slathered on top, but this time, I used a 2-1/2 inch round pastry cutter to form them into delicate appetizer-size bites. Don't they look pretty? Quinoa takes the place of breadcrumbs, and cod or tilapia can stand in for the salmon. If you're making a big batch for a party, form them ahead of time and refrigerate, then bake right before serving.